BF Babb

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

BF Babb, age 93, passed on October 3, 2013, at the Missouri Veterans Home in Mt. Vernon, where he had lived for the last year and a half. The caregivers and staff of the Veterans home, as well as those from Hospice Compassus, provided exemplary care and compassion during his last days.

He was born in 1920, in a farmhouse just about a mile from Washburn, Missouri. His parents were Zoe Windes Babb and Emmett Babb. His father died when he was seven, and the family home burned down when he was about twelve. BF graduated from high school in Washburn, and attended college for two years in Springfield and Dodge City. He taught school for a year at the old Quaker School House before going to work for Boeing in Wichita. There he met and married Eleanor Tyrrell in 1942, and was inducted into the Marine Corps in 1943. He made beach landings under fire in the Pacific Theatre at Tarawa, Saipan, Tinian and Okinawa. At the conclusion of the war, all of his and Eleanor's possessions burned in a warehouse fire in Wichita. He returned to Barry County, where he and Eleanor started from scratch and began a family. BF and his sister owned the old Cassville Truck Line until 1960.

During those days, he served as President of Little League, President and District Governor of Lions Club and Board Member of the Cassville Methodist Church. He then worked in Memphis, Springfield and Kansas City before returning home to Cassville to retire.

A man of modest means, he was still able to ensure that his wife and three children finished college. He was preceded in death by his wife of sixty-three years; his sister, Maxine Hailey, and his brother, Gus Babb. He is survived by sons, John and Joe; daughter, Julie and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

He was an avid golfer, trout fisherman, hunter and teller of jokes, tall tales and funny stories. He was a great advocate of the Cassville Methodist Church's Food Pantry. He always said he knew what it was like to be hungry -- and there was nothing good to be said about it.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to the Cassville Methodist Church's Food Pantry at 7th and Gravel Streets, Cassville, MO 65625 in his memory.

Funeral services were held at 2 p.m. Sunday, October 6, 2013, in Fohn Funeral Home, Cassville. Pastor Andy Lambel conducted the services. Burial with military honors was at Oak Hill Cemetery, Cassville.